Due to the lockdown’s extension until December 22, no traditional Christmas markets will take place in Berlin this year. Photo: onnola / Creative Commons
Querdenken plans Silvester demo, Christmas markets officially cancelled
Querdenken, the lockdown protest group known in English as “Lateral Thinking”, say they plan to go ahead with their New Year’s Eve demonstration at Brandenburg Gate. More than 22,500 participants have registered for the demo, Querdenken spokesperson Michael Ballweg told the DPA. Until now, authorities had blocked the demonstration from going ahead due to the annual New Year’s Eve celebrations meant to held at the same time. Those celebrations have now been cancelled, leaving the door open to Querdenken, who are currently in talks with authorities.
It’s official: due to the lockdown’s extension until December 22, no traditional Christmas markets will take place in Berlin this year. Outdoor events with more than 100 people remain banned, making Christmas markets unable to go ahead. It’s not all bad news, though. Markets like Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf have made alternative plans, allowing visitors to order Glühwein to go – no lingering outside the booths allowed.
Clubs become rapid coronavirus test stations, Mayor Müller defends stronger lockdown, Berlin Fashion Week to take place in January
More Covid-19 rapid test stations are popping up around Berlin, as RBB reports. Among them is one of Berlin’s best known fetish clubs, KitKat, which will launch its testing facility this Friday, December 4. Lutz Leichsenring, a spokesperson from the Berlin Club Commission, says more clubs will follow suit. "The goal is not to earn money, but to help people move more freely again," he said. Tests at KitKat cost €24.90 and can be booked in advance online.
Mayor Michael Müller has gone on air to defend Berlin’s Christmas lockdown rules, which are stricter than those across the rest of the country. In an interview with RBB, he emphasised the need for Berliners to do their part to bring down the rate of new infections, noting the critical situation in the city’s intensive care departments. The mask requirements in shops, public transport and workplaces are easily controlled, he explained, unlike the private houses where people will gather over Christmas. “We won't be sitting under the Christmas tree with the mask on,” he said. As such, it’s important to keep social contacts to a minimum.
Berlin Fashion Week will go ahead in January, organisers say. Its new location is Kraftwerk Berlin, the cavernous former power station in Mitte, and will be held from January 18 through 22. Part of the programme will be digital. The 2021 theme is sustainable fashion, and events are planned to take place with limited audiences of between 50 and 300 spectators. The final format will also depend on how the pandemic develops, Senator for Economics Ramona Pop (Greens) said.